Three letters received in Washington, D.C. yesterday give new meaning to the term "hate mail." President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John M. Richardson were the intended recipients.

The envelopes’ contents are being examined with the ones sent to the Pentagon at least believed to have contained a deadly biological agent known as Ricin.

Fortunately, all three were intercepted at screening facilities put in place for the purpose.

The bad news is that there is no way to know if there are other such "poison pen" letters in the mail to addressees without such protection.

That possibility happens to coincide with an uptick in threatening behavior towards many in public office at the moment.

The ultimate victim of such a breakdown of civility and even law and order will be our representative form of government and the freedoms it guarantees.

We mustn’t go there.

Frank Gaffney, Jr. is president of the Center for Security Policy (CSP), a columnist for The Washington Times, and host of the nationally syndicated program, Secure Freedom Radio. Read more reports from Frank Gaffney, Jr. — Click Here Now.